Fatphil

My pet peeve is PGA players giving putting advice like "it's all about confidence" or "it's all between his ears" then watching a 10 handicapper lament he has no confidence thus by extraction that's why he can't putt. They don't mention that even the worst putter you see on TV has a magnificent putting stroke and nearly perfect mechanics. The reason us weekend players can't putt worth a damn is we can't hit the sweet spot and probably don't make the same stroke twice during an entire round. That takes practice...a LOT of freakin practice. Not just smacking 20 putts on a Saturday morning before the round.

yeah I hear ya..just my opinion. Kinda like art...ya like some ya hate some. I just don't like the look. The sad thing its 11 on a saturday morning and I'm sitting in an airport lounge drinking a beer reading a golf website while my buddies are playing golf. Haha...

Sorry I'm the party pooper...hate the look of a fade off an amatures club...a touring pro maybe OK..most guys 8 hdcp or above dont hit fades they have modified slices with horrible swing paths...and take it to bizare extremes...(ie 20 or 30 yards). However, I'm sure you are the exception.

it absolutly makes sense. A modern 460cc driver has a ginormous sweetspot and and it's tee'd up 2" in the air...a monkey with a crayon can hit that sucker. A properly struck iron takes a golf swing and some knowlege.

i try to hit a small bucket everyday at lunch time. Takes bout 30 min. then 10 min putting. On Sunday I work on chipping and pitching. I do it more for exercise and to keep stretched out. I'm 54 and see a bunch of my friends much younger that are hurting puppies after 18 holes. (backs, wrists, knees, elbows). Course in the summer going back to the office can be kinda sweaty and nasty.

Of course you can tell the difference between a well struck ball on a mat or not. The problem is after the shot. If you are suppose to bottom out your swing a few inches in front of the ball, grass is softer...so the feedback you get from a properly struck iron is horrible. That sticks in your mind after "thousands" of balls and makes you a picker or flipper. All the worse if the mats are bone thin...driving a 7i into a rock hard mat is hard to make yourself do...therefore instinctually you flinch (mat yipps as someone call it).

Ever consider how Tony Romo can get the crap kicked out of him for 6 months then a month later try to qualify for the US open? Good athletes (pros more so) have a connection between their brain and their motor reflex's vastly better than some dude sitting behind a desk all week. The effectiveness of a swing thought is merely how quickly and efficiently the mind transmits the information. To say that Tony Romo knows more about the golf swing than any of us is not correct. As a pro athlete Romo is just better at making his body do what his mind tells it. A high level golfer is so in tune with his swing he feels his body and club position every inch of the way. If he makes a bad move or gets slightly out of position all kinds of bells go off in his head at the moment it happens. Unlike you a me who hit a bad shot and say WTF just happened.

just to mention the obvious...do u practice on mats? You can pick the ball off a mat or drop kick it and it goes pretty good. Some one who knows how to compress the ball and not "flip" can practice effectively on mats however, if you are trying to learn how to compress the ball and not flip hitting off grass makes the feed back much more effective.

yeah it's fun. Follow the latino players if you want to see some nice babes..(Villegas or Vegas). Miller Ale House 1/2 mile s. on Galloway has outside bar u can smoke a cigar. Within walking distance from the resort and the prices are MUCH better.

Like the guy above says I wouldnt mess with the setup unless you see a video or have a pro look at you. Most high handicappers don't shank the ball, they hit on the toe or chunk it. Better players tend to shank ocasionally. A shank indicates you are basically swinging on an inside out path (good) but your hands thru impact rode up a little high or outside (bad). Look at Jim Furyk, his hands almost hit his thighs on the way thru. Golf is a game of opposites. "Assuming" your posture is reasonably correct, don't stand further away. Look at yourself DTL in a full lenght mirror and compare your posture to any pro that fits your body type. If it looks OK don't screw with it. since its the start of the season you're probably tight and just a bit out of sync.

sorry didnt see this last week...a nice course is Miami Springs off 36th St and Curtis Parkway. (north side of MIA). If u are over 55 its $25. I think $35 for others. It's not Doral but its got a great range and decent bar. The course was the site of the old Miami Open back in the day..so there is a bit of history if that stuff is of interest.

slam a putt 6 feet by the hole, "touch of a f...in rapist"

isn't this an oxymoron?

played it a couple of summers ago and it was being re-worked so played 9 twice..the next summer it was the opposite and the fixed up side was in pretty good shape. If ya got a hook up at Ocean Reef keep me in mind!!!

I grew up in NYC area..unless you're a member somewhere (big bucks) golf totally sucks. I left at 18 and never went back.

To me these are the most difficult shots in golf...so don't beat yourself up too much. Anyone can sweep a 460cc driver off a tee or a GI 7iron off a fluffy lie...but the precision needed to cleanly strike a 60 yd lob wedge to a precise target requires a tremendous knowledge of the golf swing. If mid handicappers pull it off 2 or 3 times a round that's just luck. To watch a low handicapper or a pro do it with consistancy to me is really fun to watch. I try to force myself (with limited success) to start my practice sessions hitting lob wedges from 50 yds in to about 30 feet. That ingrains in my head the proper hand action that needs to bleed thru to the long game. It only takes me about 15-20 balls but it improves my practice (or game) significantly.

try moving south...kids down here play year round. A HS junior, a girl in district qualifiying shot a 67 on monday @ Bonaventure E a decent course....ha ha & then she was bitchin she couldn't make a putt on the back 9.

I was always told growing up caddying that plastic tees mess up the mower blades and should never be used. Now it seems thats all they make...

Great! thanks for the update...you brought back some awesome memories. Thanks.

just a tip for the wives and GF's..my wife got her purse stolen in a Starbuck's lot. The cop said they look for women going into a store without their purses and DUH they know it's in the car. The guy popped out the door lock, set off the alarm and he was gone by the time my wife ran out. Tell them to always take their purse with them....they ARE being watched.

Old Nirvana,,,strong 4/4 beat is excellent...

eh Farmington...my first job out of school was in southfield I lived in the early 80's at Independance Green. Then bought a historic home on Grand River accross from the Warner Mansion. Sold it in '92 and moved south. Is Independance Green still there? Lot of good memories! Don't mean to hijack the tread..but seriously I lived in Memphis on a course for 8 years...incredibly stupid purchase...but in all the 8 years and broken windows (man you don't want to be in the kitchen when one of the suckers comes blasting in) the only one in the family to ever get hit was the freakin' dog!

Wow, don't see many "befuddling's" anymore. I don't sweat the strong or weak grip, my main concern is that the hands don't conflict with each other ie strong left hand with the right hand weak..or worse yet is half way into the backswing as my left hand rotates clockwise onto plane the tension in my arms and shoulders forces my right hand to rotate in the same direction rather than relax and rotate counterclockwise underneath the shaft, besides forcing the club across the line it tends to un-hinge my wrists and lose lag.

Hitting a 56 or 60deg to me is one of the harder shots. It requires holding the lag and setting the angle absolutely perfectly or the results can be horrific. Most anyone can sweep at a 460cc driver and hit it decently simply because it doesn't take a very advanced understanding of the golf swing. On the plus side if we all take some extra time and learn how to properly hit the 70-100 yard pitch you will get a better understanding of the golf swing.

never, I go to the same ranges all the time..just put them in the trunk til next time. Am out of town now but I got a half a bucket sitting in my trunk...will pound it out on the way home from the airport on Friday. Just got to remember one uses floaters the other uses real balls...don't want to mix em up.